The president and the first lady shared a stage yet again last night – but this time, the spoils of victory went to Hillary Rodham Clinton.
After 26 years as her husband’s cheerleader, Mrs. Clinton enjoyed her own history-making night to remember, while her husband stood back and watched admiringly as his political career rolled toward an end and his wife’s was just beginning.
The president had a better view than most of the 2,000 cheering supporters who packed the Grand Ballroom of the Grand Hyatt Hotel in midtown Manhattan in a circus-like frenzy surrounding the first lady’s acceptance speech.
Shouting over screams of “Hillary! Hillary!” a relaxed Mrs. Clinton took in the sprawling crowd and said: “Wow! This is amazing!”
For the next hour, she was mobbed by well-wishers. She even got a congratulatory phone call from Mayor Giuliani, her former opponent, who said he was looking forward to working with her, campaign insiders said.
From the beginning it was clear Hillary’s victory party was going to be something special.
All types of people milled around the hotel before Mrs. Clinton’s victory speech, but none stood out as clearly as three scantily-clad Chippendale dancers who showed up outside the second-floor media center to watch the VIP party below.
“We’re fans of Hillary Clinton,” said one, who identified himself only as Victor, saying the dancers were there to promote a cable-channel movie.
Later on, the Clintons mingled with political machers and celebrity friends in a private suite – and an ecstatic Hillary finally got a chance to admire her picture on the front page of an early edition of The Post.
“It’s the first time I’ve had a smiling picture,” she quipped.
The soiree included Miramax Films boss Harvey Weinstein and screen stars Uma Thurman and Ben Affleck.
President Clinton, who paid close attention to election returns as they came in on TV, was overheard blaming Al Gore’s electoral woes on Green Party candidate Ralph Nader.
“If he loses, Nader will have cost him the election,” Clinton said as Gore went down in Florida, New Hampshire and Oregon.
Asked about his senatorial spouse, the president said: “I’m really proud of her. She won bigger than anyone said she would.”